The Latest: Philanthropists die in South Dakota plane crash

In this Dec. 25, 2018 photo, first responders survey the scene where a plane crashed into a home in Sioux Falls, S.D. Two people died when the single-engine airplane crashed and caught fire in a residential neighborhood in Sioux Falls, leading to the evacuation of four homes, police said Wednesday. (Briana Sanchez/Argus Leader via AP)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Latest on a small plane that crashed in a South Dakota city (all times local): 5 p.m. Authorities in Sioux Falls have identified a couple killed when a small…

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Latest on a small plane that crashed in a South Dakota city (all times local):

5 p.m.

Authorities in Sioux Falls have identified a couple killed when a small plane crashed in a residential neighborhood of the South Dakota city.

Police said late Wednesday afternoon that the Minnehaha County coroner positively identified the victims as Vaughn and JoAnn Meyer of Sioux Falls. Both were 68 years old.

Sioux Falls Police Capt. Loren McManus says authorities don’t know who was piloting the plane, which crashed between four homes on Tuesday. No one on the ground was hurt.

The Argus Leader reports the Meyers were known for their philanthropy. Sioux Falls Lutheran School announced earlier this year it was naming a new chapel and performing arts center after the couple after they donated more than $1 million to the project.

Police say the National Transportation Safety Board has contracted a company which will be in Sioux Falls on Wednesday to start the investigation into the crash.

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10:40 a.m.

Police say two people died when a small plane crashed in a residential neighborhood in a South Dakota city.

Sioux Falls Police Capt. Loren McManus confirmed a second fatality at a news briefing Wednesday morning. McManus says the two people killed were the only occupants of the single-engine plane that crashed between four homes about 5 p.m. Tuesday. No one on the ground was injured.

He said the debris field stretches for several blocks.

Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Division Chief Steve Fessler says residents of two of the four houses that were evacuated following the crash have not returned to their homes.

Authorities have not released the identities of those who died.

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7:30 a.m.

Officials say one person died when a single-engine airplane crashed in a backyard in a South Dakota city, leading to the evacuation of four homes.

Sioux Falls Emergency Manager Regan Smith told reporters that the person who died was on the plane when it crashed in Sioux Falls around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Smith says the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to investigate the crash site starting Wednesday.

Jim Lang, who lives nearby, says he felt the ground shake and heard what sounded like a vehicle accelerating rapidly. He looked out his window and saw “a yellow ball of fire.”

Smith says two homes suffered significant damage and two more were affected by debris. He wasn’t able to say if all the houses were occupied when the crash occurred.